Manchin: Repeal Part Of Health Care Reform

Gov. Joe Manchin (D-WV), the Democratic nominee in the hotly-contested special Senate election for the seat once held by the late Dem Sen. Robert Byrd, has now taken a serious move that distances himself from the national Democrats in this Republican-trending state, Real Clear Politics reports — calling for a partial repeal of the health care reform law.

“I believe in health care reform. I don’t believe in the way this bill was passed,” Manchin said Sunday afternoon. “Why they overreached, I don’t know.”

Pressed on his support for repeal, Manchin clarified that he favored “repealing the things that are bad in that bill.” He ticked off a list of reforms in the law that he supports and asserted there is broad agreement in both parties for many of them. “Can’t you keep that as a good base?” he said, adding, “It’s a great bill.” He emphasized that he’s not calling for wholesale repeal and just wants to roll back parts of it but said, “You do need to.”

It’s interesting to note that nearly all of the Republican ads against Manchin have focused on attacking him as being too closely tied to President Obama, with health care mentioned as a key issue. But now he’s sending a message that no, he’s not tied to Obama on health care.